Perfectly Normal
by storm-aurora
Summary: "It was a perfectly normal, ordinary day. Until it wasn't." Sun and Moon's day together is interrupted by a series of strange events...


**A/N: ****I wrote this last week, but I decided I'd wait to post it until Sun's birthday. Happy birthday, cat-boy!**

**Prompts: "Wow, you look...amazing." / "Is that blood?" / "Who did this?"**

It was a perfectly normal, ordinary day.

Sun and Moon were walking along Route 2, heading to Big Wave Beach to try Mantine Surfing. Rotom was floating along in front of them, giving them directions to the beach in question. Sun was recounting the story of a job he'd had where a lady asked him to find her missing Stufful, but the Stufful in question didn't seem to want to be found. Moon was laughing as Sun explained his attempts to coax the Stufful out of a tree. It was a perfectly normal, ordinary day.

Until it wasn't.

Thick clouds of fog suddenly began rolling in. Within a few seconds, visibility went from perfectly normal to almost nothing. Rotom made a startled buzz of alarm as its GPS signal cut out, causing its map to cut to static. "Sun, Moon, don't move, zzt!" Rotom exclaimed. "There'zzz something weird about thizzzzz…zzrt…"

"Rotom?" Sun called out. "You okay? What's going on?"

There was no response.

Instinctively, Moon shot her hand out to the side, feeling around for Sun. "Courier," she said, trying to keep the fear from seeping into her voice. "Courier, grab my hand so we don't get separated."

For a few heart-pounding seconds, she didn't feel anything. Then, a hand brushed up against her arm, and Moon quickly grabbed onto it and held on tight. "Moon?" Sun's voice came out of the fog, sounding a little surprised.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's me. I've got you, courier."

"I thought I asked you not to call me that anymore."

"Right. Right, sorry, Sun," Moon said, half-heartedly attempting a reassuring smile. Not that it mattered, since he wouldn't be able to see it through the fog anyway. "This is just…too weird. This fog is so thick, and it came on so suddenly…and then something happened to Rotom…"

Sun squeezed Moon's hand. "It's okay. It'll go away soon, and we can look for Rotom then. Until then, let's keep on heading towards the beach, alright?"

Moon could practically hear the bright smile in his voice. She only wished it was bright enough to literally cut through the fog. "Alright," she said, trying and failing to match his enthusiasm.

They hadn't been walking for long when they came across a giant, dark shadow looming in front of them.

"What is that?" Moon asked.

"I dunno. Maybe a cliff or something?"

"There shouldn't be any cliffs between us and the beach..."

"The fog must've gotten us a little turned around. It's fine, we can figure this out," Sun said confidently. He tugged gently on Moon's hand, guiding her to the right and away from the mysterious cliff.

"I still have a bad feeling about all of this," Moon admitted, and Sun squeezed her hand reassuringly in response.

Soon, Moon realized that she could see Sun's silhouette through the fog. In fact, it wasn't long before she could start to make out some of his features as well. She squeezed his hand eagerly. "I see you," she said breathlessly. "Sun, I see you! The fog is letting up!"

Sun grinned back at her, and Moon nearly squealed with glee. She could _see _him grinning at her. "That's awesome!" he said. "See, I told you that it would be okay."

Moon nodded and shifted her attention to their surroundings, which were gradually becoming more visible. Yet the more that she was able to see, the more that her relief started to fade, feeding the pit of uneasiness in her stomach.

Somehow, they had wandered into what looked like a giant hut, like Hala's house in Iki Town. And the hut was filled with racks and racks of _clothes_. Moon let go of Sun's hand to go investigate one of the clothing racks. It was full of luxurious, fancy dresses: a gray dress with a cream-colored bodice and a skirt covered in ruffles and glitter; a blue silk dress with sequin-covered sleeves and red roses printed on the skirt; a deep purple dress with a long train that Moon liked a lot because it was simple, yet elegant.

"What is this place?" Moon wondered aloud, letting the purple dress fall back in line with the others on the rack.

Sun's voice drifted to her from the other side of the rack. "I dunno, but these clothes sure are fancy."

Moon made her way around to the other side of the rack to find Sun, only to freeze in her tracks when she saw him. He was wearing a bright orange suit with a complimentary baby blue tie and loafers the same color as the tie. In addition, his bag and hat had disappeared, and his normally unruly curls were now slicked back as if he'd applied hair gel.

Sun seemed totally oblivious to his own appearance, though. He was too busy gaping at Moon. "Wow," he breathed, "you look…amazing."

Moon looked down at herself. Even though she knew she hadn't changed her clothes, she was now wearing the elegant purple dress she had been looking at before. She had also been given purple gloves that reached all the way up to her elbows and short purple heels to match. She put a hand to her head and discovered that her hat, too, had disappeared, and her hair had fallen out of its braids and was cascading around her shoulders in neat curls. It was like they had both magically been prepared for some fancy formal event.

Moon's gaze flickered back to Sun and she gasped. She didn't know how she hadn't noticed it before. There was a line of red that streaked across his forehead and dribbled down the side of his face like thick red sweat.

"Is that _blood_?" she exclaimed, pulling off one of her gloves. She put a hand on Sun's cheek and, with her now ungloved hand, she swiped a thumb over his forehead. He leaned his head into her palm contentedly. Moon sniffed her thumb and, sure enough, it smelled like the familiar coppery tang of blood. "How did...what _happened_ to you, Sun?"

He blinked. "I don't know what you mean. Nothing happened. I'm bleeding?" Sun reached a hand up towards his forehead, but Moon let out a shriek and grabbed his wrist before it could reach his face. Front and back, his hand was also covered in blood. She removed her gloved hand from Sun's cheek and grabbed his other wrist. That hand, too, was covered in blood.

Sun truly seemed bewildered by the blood on his hands. "I don't know where that came from. It doesn't hurt at all," he insisted.

Moon was too busy trying not to have a panic attack to listen to him. She always worried whenever Sun got himself injured – which, unfortunately, was not a rare occurrence – but she could always calm herself down by making medicine to treat the injury. However, her bag had disappeared into the same void that the rest of her clothes had vanished into, so she had no way of treating Sun's wounds. On top of that, when she tried desperately swiping any of the fabrics they were wearing over Sun's hands to try to absorb the blood, none of them seemed to have any effect. She glanced up at the racks of clothes around them, hoping to see if one of the other outfits was any better at soaking up blood, only to find that the racks had all disappeared. It was just the two of them sitting alone in an empty hut, dressed to the nines while Sun was bleeding out in front of Moon. Her head hurt just trying to make sense of any of it. It was too much.

Tears welled up in Moon's eyes. "I d-don't understand," she stammered, voice cracking. "I don't know what's going on. It doesn't make sense. It was all p-perfectly normal…but then…" A strangled sob tore from her throat, and she buried her face in her hands. "My head hurts," she whimpered.

"I'm sorry…" Sun's voice sounded strained, and he awkwardly patted her back. Moon never had breakdowns like this, and she could tell that he had no idea what to do in this situation. Neither did she. Maybe if she had her bag, if she could regain any semblance of control over the situation…

Sun's hand suddenly left her back, and she heard him moving around. Then, "Hey, Moon, look! I found your bag. Now you can...y'know, bandage me up and stuff?"

Moon took her face out of her hands and looked up at him. He was holding her bag out to her by the strap. "Uh, sorry, I got a little blood on it," Sun said sheepishly.

Moon flashed him a grateful, albeit tearful smile. "I'll manage," she said, taking the bag from him.

As she pulled a damp cloth out of her bag that she didn't remember putting in there, Sun started back up where he had left off with the Stufful story. Moon smiled a little as she wiped down Sun's hands, appreciating his attempt at normalcy. Even if she knew there was absolutely nothing normal about this. Sun was still bleeding, they were still in fancy dress, they still didn't know where they were, and–

Wait.

Sun was _still _bleeding?

No matter how much blood she soaked up with the cloth – which was definitely soaking up blood, if the growing red stains on it were any indication – she never seemed to be able to get it all off of Sun's hands. Fresh blood just kept appearing, and she couldn't even figure out _where_ it was welling up from. She threw down the cloth in frustration.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Sun protested. "I like it when you take care of me."

Moon blinked.

"You do?"

"W-well…yeah," Sun admitted, blushing a little. "It feels relaxing, and…I like it when I have your undivided attention."

Moon stared at her hands, one gloved, one ungloved. Gears were starting to turn in her head. "And…you like the way I look right now?"

"Um…yes?"

"You like it when…you get to guide me?"

"I hadn't really thought about it, but…now that you say it out loud, I guess I do."

"And you like it when you hold my hand."

"Of course," Sun said, puzzled. "But why is any of that important?"

"Because it means none of this is real," Moon declared.

She got to her feet and, like magic, a Poké Ball materialized in her hand. She sent out Decidueye and met its gaze. Moon mimed drawing an arrow in a bow, and Decidueye readied an arrow quill accordingly. The pair glanced around the room.

"Who did this?" Moon demanded. "Show yourself!"

The only response was an eerie laugh that echoed around them.

Decidueye's gaze locked on a point a few yards away, and it launched an arrow quill in that direction. A shrill cry resounded, and suddenly it all dissolved – the hut surrounding them, the clothes they were wearing, the blood on Sun's hands, even the stained cloth at Moon's feet. They were now standing in a cemetery, with rows of gravestones where there were once racks of clothes. A few yards away, a floating purple Pokémon with a red jewel on its chest struggled against the grip of the arrow pinning down its shadow. Moon pulled out Sun's Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokémon.

"Mismagius. The Magical Pokémon. Feared for its wrath and the curses its spreads, this Pokémon will also, on a whim, cast spells that help people," Moon read. She glared at the pinned Pokémon. "I've heard of Mismagius before. It can show two people the same hallucination and make one of them happy while driving the other one insane. The only way to destroy it is by attacking it at its source."

"Whoa." Sun shot a grin at Moon. "You don't just _look _amazing, Moon. You _are _amazing."

A blush crept up Moon's cheeks. "Thanks, but we're not quite done yet. Decidueye!" she commanded. "Use Shadow Claw!"

Decidueye flew at the trapped Mismagius. However, just before Decidueye reached it, it grinned and moved aside, easily slipping free of the arrow's grip. Before Moon could order another attack, Mismagius cackled and flew away, vanishing into the shadows of the trees.

"It got away," Moon scowled, returning Decidueye. "I forgot that Ghost-type Pokémon are immune to being trapped."

"Still, you saved us," Sun pointed out, getting to his feet. "Thanks a lot, Moon!"

Moon gave him a quick smile before slipping back into a more serious expression. "We need to tell Hala that there's a wild Mismagius here causing trouble. It could hurt other people if it's not taken care of."

Sun beamed. "That's my Moony, always thinking of other people!"

Moon glared at him. "Don't call me Moony."

"Whatever you say, Moony!"

"Fine, you wanna play like that? We'll play like that, Sunny."

Sun laughed, and Moon couldn't help smiling and rolling her eyes. "C'mon, Sunny, let's go talk to Hala, then we can get to the beach." She paused. "Wait, where even are we?"

Sun glanced around. "Looks like we're in Hau'oli Cemetery. It's a burial site for Pokémon."

Moon blinked. "I didn't know this place existed."

He grinned. "Well then, I'll just have to show you around! It's tour time!"

"But, Hala–"

"Hala can wait for a few minutes, Moony. This is a really quick tour!"

When Rotom finally found them a few minutes later, Sun had finished off his Hau'oli Cemetery tour and was finishing up the story of the lost Stufful. Moon was laughing at Sun's description of the Stufful that went from crying and flailing to crooning and cuddling as soon as it was reunited with its Trainer. Rotom would have believed that nothing had happened since it last saw them if it wasn't for the change in location and the fact that Moon was now holding Sun's hand.

It was a perfectly normal, extraordinary day.

**A/N: Remember how Platinum's Gym Battle against Fantina was nearly a failure because of Mismagius's hallucinations? Remember how the hallucinations gave Platinum and Pearl a headache while Diamond and Lax were blissfully unaware? Remember how Moon is from Sinnoh and has probably interacted with Platinum before? Yeah, so do I :3**

**The 'Dex entry for Mismagius was taken from Ultra Sun.**


End file.
